Carousel
by tris-everdeen99
Summary: She's hiding a secret from everyone she knows and loves. He's haunted by the scene of his mother's murder. Brought together from different sides of the war, and forced into isolation, the pair find that they share more similarities than differences. But is it enough to keep them alive? DM/HG. ON HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1 - Chamber

**Chapter 1 – Chamber**

**Hi everyone! So, I've finished writing my first multi-chapter fanfic, and my current project is this one: Carousel. I'm not going to say much, except that I hope you like it!**

"Are you sure this is the place?" Hermione asked, looking doubtfully around the decrepit fairground.

"Certain." Harry replied, before squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. "I'll lead. Wait for my signal – this could be the biggest threat we've encountered so far." He spoke to the group of highly trained Aurors behind him. Each one nodded dutifully, before filing after him in a defensive formation, Hermione at the front with their leader.

"According to our source, we're after an _underground _chamber or meeting place. So look out for a passageway of some sort. Split up into your pairs, everyone take a different area. If you find something promising, alert me immediately. Understood?"

The professionals broke away from the main group, and began to search the fairground with an exceptional precision.

"Only one area left, Harry." Hermione indicated the garishly decorated "Tunnel of Love." He looked at her doubtfully.

"You think that's likely?"

"No. But all the other rides and stalls are covered. So we have no choice."

"Fine." He nodded curtly, and they advanced towards the ride. As they neared, the sense of foreboding around the place only seemed to increase. The fairground was silent, except for the occasional footsteps as the Aurors inspected the area.

"Ladies first." Harry gave her a grim smile, pointing at the entrance looming above them. "I've got your back." He lifted his wand.

Hermione slowly began to progress, taking care to scrutinise practically every centimetre of the ground. As they stepped into the neglected ride's route, the musty stench of abandonment increased, and the previously quite sound of their steps reverberated throughout the tunnel.

"Lumos." Hermione whispered, the glow from her wand offering some source of assistance. She began to prod at the sloping walls around them, probing for what she hoped would be some sort of loose brick, giving way to a passageway. No such luck. But then, out of the blue, she felt her ankle suddenly give way as part of the floor collapsed beneath her. Harry had the sense – and quick reflexes – to clamp his hand over her mouth before she could scream, as he helped her up, half falling through the floor. Quickly, he hauled her back to her feet and bent down to inspect the flooring.

"Trapdoor." He spoke, triumphantly. "We need back-up. This is it."

"It's too easy, Harry." Hermione frowned, uneasily. "I don't have a good feeling about this. It could be a trap."

"We won't know if we don't try." He answered, firmly. "_Vocavi te._" He whispered, and the tip of his wand glowed a deep blue, before it dulled again. Seconds later, the rest of the Aurors apparated behind them in a series of "pops".

"We've got it." Harry gestured towards the door. "This is it. Formation."

The Aurors quickly slipped into a diamond-type of shape, each one slowing their breathing for added stealth.

"Here we go."

**ooooo**

The group crept through the passageway, dutifully following Harry's lead through the twists and turns beneath the ground in complete silence. After what must have been at least an hour of trekking through the crumbling tunnel, they finally came to a fork in the channel.

"Shh." Harry held a finger to his lips, despite the fact that everyone was already completely mute. As they froze in apprehension, slowly, they could make out the faint echo of voices.

"This way." Harry swerved to the left, and once again, the trekking began. Only this time, it was a mere couple of minutes until they'd stopped, for as Harry turned around a corner, each member did so too, but ended slamming into each other, and hastily retreating. He'd stopped walking, and furiously ushered them back. Why? Because only metres away from them were the hoard of danger that they were searching for, and all that stood between them and the enemy was the crumbling corner of the tunnel. It seemed that the hunt had ended early.

Harry held up his hand, to indicate that the Aurors were to stay where they were and first get a bearing of their surroundings. At the words spoken by the apparent leaders of the group, Hermione felt a shiver of fear travel up her spine, and the sight beyond the safety of the tunnel only increased her anxiety.

"And so, we shall be known as V-DARK!" one of the two figures on a raised platform called out, "V-DARK: Voldemort's Disciples And Revolutionary Killers!" his voice rose to a crescendo, and at the sound of the former Dark Lord's name, the jeering crowd below the stage had a mixed reaction. Some cheered, with chilling enthusiasm, and others muttered and gripped their wands tighter.

The second figure stepped away from the shadows, and as Hermione caught sight of his face, she gripped Harry's shoulder.

"Rabastan!" she hissed in his ear, and he replied, sounding more determined than ever.

"That means the other person must be Rodolphus. The Ministry are going to be shocked when we get hold of these two."

"_When_ we get hold of them?" she asked.

"When." He replied, firmly. "Not if. When."

They both turned back to the platform, and listened to Rabastan speak, his eyes darting crazily around the room.

"And as our namesake declares, we shall rid the world of Muggles forever!" he cackled, with glee. "And we shall finish the task our Lord gave his life so valiantly for!" The roar of approval from the chamber was deafening, as members of "V-DARK" began to cheer, and stamp their feet.

"They're insane." Harry muttered.

Rodolphus held up his hand, motioning for quiet. "But to run such an extraordinary group, we shall need a leader. Someone young, and strong, for my brother and I cannot control such an establishment. And so, we have brought the boy whose mother betrayed us. SHE is the reason the Dark Lord was vanquished, and therefore he and his family owe us all a great debt." Rabastan then gestured extravagantly towards a black screen, behind which the outline of a struggling silhouette could be seen.

"You all know what to do!" he screeched, and slowly, every member in the room summoned some sort of goblet, and drew their wand across the wrist of their right hand. Each goblet caught only one single drop of blood from the cuts, and as Rodolphus and Rabastan raised their arms above their heads, the goblets floated towards the stage and emptied their meagre contents into a bowl.

"When our leader consumes this," Rodolphus began, "he shall have absorbed some of the powers of each of us. It is a small price to pay for greatness, and we shall all have established a connection with the new Dark Lord!" he began to chant, in a low, disturbing tone, and the blood began to bubble violently. He then disappeared behind the screen, and the figure behind could be seen having the contents of the bowl being forced down his – or her – throat; but at that very moment, Harry raised his wand, and the group of Aurors burst into the chamber. The chaos that followed was simply insanity, with the room aglow with the flash of colours and screams of curses.

"STUPEF - "

"SECTUM - "

"IMPERI - "

"CRUCI - "

"SECTUM - "

"IMPERI - "

"AVADA - "

"PETRIFIC - "

The noise was deafening, particularly as the Aurors had come armed, and with each member they had the chance to, a modified portkey was thrown at them and would send them straight to holding cells at the Ministry. Amidst all the madness, no-one noticed two shrouds of smoke enveloping the crazed brothers, and their disappearance was only realised once the short-lived battle was over.

Hermione bent over, breathing heavily, a sheen of sweat across her forehead. "We've done it, Harry."

"Not a single Auror lost." Someone called out, "but can't say the same for the other lot."

They glanced around, at the bodies of dark wizards littering the floor.

"That was well executed," Harry began, as the team nodded with pride, "but they got away! Rodolphus and Rabastan…Dammit!" he kicked a wall, hard.

Hermione approached him, placing a cautious hand on his shoulder. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You can't have expected us to capture them on our first attempt – we've got hostages, and we'll make them talk. You did well."

But they were interrupted from their moment of victory by muffled screams. The Aurors turned, to realise that the victim was still trapped behind the screen. Harry motioned for them to stay put, but he and Hermione ventured forward, to find the last person Hermione had thought to find gagged and tied up against the wall. Harry dragged the handkerchief roughly away from his mouth, and they stared in disbelief as the seemingly ethereally-glowing figure spat the remnants of blood he'd been forced to swallow from his mouth. When he'd finally finished, he lifted his head, smirking, ironically, and looking the pair right in the eyes.

"Potter. Granger." He began.

"Malfoy." Harry spat out.

"Long time, no see."

**So, this is quite different to "Uncovered." Obviously this is a Dramione - if you liked this chapter, I'd LOVE to hear your thoughts on it. 10 reviews and I'll update!**

**Thanks guys,**

**Tris xx**


	2. Chapter 2 - Consequences

**Chapter 2 – Consequences**

**Hello everyone! Wow! More than 10 reviews overnight! Thank you =D So, this chapter...well, there's not really much to say, except that the exciting stuff will be coming soon. Patience!**

**So...enjoy!**

Harry and Hermione arrived at the Ministry by themselves, having sent the other Aurors ahead of them and using one of their portkies to have Draco transferred to a holding cell at the Ministry. The commotion when they arrived however was far from expected. Clearly someone had leaked the news of a new group of "Death Eaters", and the press were all over it in an instant.

"Mr Potter! Could we have - "

"Miss Granger, you are a delightful - "

"Is it true that Draco Mal - "

"Are the Wizarding World in - "

"How will the Ministry - "

"_Two_ notorious leaders? The - "

"A tip-off led to - "

"Can we have a stateme - "

However, only one reporter had the audacity to actually approach the pair, and Hermione found herself being gripped viciously tightly by the arm and face-to-face with none other than Rita Skeeter herself.

"Still in the business, are we?" she spat, jerking her arm away from the despicable woman.

"Hermione." Harry said warningly, having fought his way back through the throng to rescue her.

"Now, now," Skeeter began, nauseatingly patronisingly, "I have no need to swarm over the trivial news of some new rebel group like the rest of these people." She dismissed the matter with a wave of her hand. "No, I've had a tasty piece of information about you," she pointed to Hermione, "and you," she giggled, and flirtatiously stroked Harry's arm, much to his disgust, "having a juicy love-affair. Now what can you tell me - "

"FOR THE LOVE OF MERLIN!" Hermione screeched, but Skeeter was saved from being on the receiving end of one of her lectures by none other than the Minister of Magic himself.

"LADIES, AND GENTLEMEN." Kingsley Shacklebolt's voice resonated throughout the foyer, and it was almost difficult to tell whether he'd actually used "Sonorus" on himself or not. "The Ministry will be releasing a statement about this issue shortly, but at the moment we should be obliged if you were to remove your presence," he phrased this politely, but his disgust was evident, "from our building." He paused. "Or further measures will have to be insured." He spoke authoritatively, therefore reporters slowly began to disperse, muttering amongst themselves furiously.

"Mr Potter, Miss Granger, we don't we head up to my office where we can have some more privacy?" and he began to steer them away to safety.

**ooooo**

When Kingsley had pushed open the door, however, Hermione was not prepared for the sight beyond. Quickly, she whipped out her wand and shot a full body-bind curse at Malfoy, who had been casually leaning against a chair and picking at his nails. He toppled to the floor, as Hermione ran forward to tower over him. The rage was evident in his eyes; if looks could kill, Hermione would've been lying dead on the floor beside him.

"Hermione!" Kingsley hurried forward, using her first name now that they were in private. "I had Mr Malfoy brought up here – he is of no threat to us. Remove the curse at once!"

She blushed furiously. The fact that Kingsley wore an amused smile which he was trying – and failing – to conceal only made the situation worse. She quickly muttered the counter-curse, and her embarrassment increased as she realised that Draco's wrists were circled by two rings of a green-tinted light. She knew all too well that he could move freely, but couldn't perform any magic as long as the Ministry maintained the "magical cuffs" there.

"Mr Malfoy," Kingsley began as he helped Draco to his feet, "has already been charmed. And he was searched on arrival: his wand has already been confiscated, we presume, by the Lestrange brothers." He motioned for Draco to sit down opposite his side of the desk. When he refused with a slight rebellious smirk, Kingsley only had to raise an eyebrow before he quickly sat down, defeated.

The Minister turned to Harry and Hermione. "I must congratulate the pair of you on your achievement. Particularly you, Harry." He smiled, fondly. "You led the team wonderfully. I will be speaking to you later about the case, however at the moment, we have more pressing issues. I've already been filled in about what happened by some of the other Aurors, and Mr Malfoy's situation is…unique to say the least."

"You can say that again." Harry muttered, shooting a warning glare in Draco's direction. Clearly their previous school-rivalry had escalated in the two years following Voldemort's defeat.

Kingsley cleared his throat. "I've decided that we'll be using Veritaserum on Mr Malfoy - "

"I should think that - " Draco had begun to protest, but a quick silencing charm from Harry allowed them to continue their conversation.

"As I was saying, we will be using Veritaserum on Mr Malfoy, as we have done on the other "rebels" in the holding cells downstairs."

Draco continued his silent tirade.

"Once the interview is over, I will explain the purpose of having the pair of you present for this – and myself, actually."

Hermione quickly raised her hand, staring at Kingsley. At his quizzical look, she realised that she wasn't in school anymore: clearly Hogwarts had left her with some peculiar habits. She slowly lowered her hand, her sheepish expression making Kingsley let out a deep, rich laugh – despite the tense atmosphere.

Draco smirked.

"I was just wondering why we were having this procedure up here, Minister?" she asked, ever the curious one.

"I will explain that, Hermione." Kingsley started, "Once we're in more…private circumstances." He nodded at Draco with no hint of subtlety.

"I see."

"Shall we begin?"

**ooooo**

The interview passed in a blur which Hermione found difficult to recall, and when she checked her watch after Harry had left to "escort" Draco to a more secure area, she found to her evident shock that they had been throwing a series of questions at the former Slytherin for more than three hours. She suppressed a yawn, shaking her head to remove the image of Draco blowing his fringe away from his eyes with barely concealed irritation. It hadn't been slicked back how he'd styled it for so many years at school. She found the sight unnerving; mainly due to how much it altered his appearance.

"Hermione." Kingsley started, with no traces of exhaustion. "Take a seat."

She sat.

"I have a series of matters to discuss with you - "

"Sorry Minister, but shouldn't Harry be here?" she interrupted, hurriedly.

Kingsley sighed. "Harry is already aware of the situation, being in charge of this project. You may not be aware of this, but we do have a system of order in use – though I have only just made this decision, Harry has already been informed of it, and agreed to my terms. The wonders of magic, Miss Granger."

"I see. Please do continue." She swallowed, and sat down after his ominous warning.

"I have a favour to ask of you. Actually, it is not so much a favour, but should you deny this, then I'm afraid…your status as an Auror will have to be removed."

"Removed?! But…why? I don't understand! That's so drastic…I…"

"It's complicated. I'm sure you're aware of the Zabini Movement."

"I am. Blaise Zabini, former Slytherin at Hogwarts, son of a seven-time widow. Turned dark after the defeat of Voldemort, and soon after began a series of killing sprees," she hesitated, "of muggles, muggle-borns and "blood traitors". Currently one of the most sought-after Wizards in England." She recited.

"Very impressive, as always."

Hermione smiled at the praise.

"Due to the Zabini Movement, we are suffering a drastic loss of Aurors, as we have vast numbers of them posted all over England and currently dedicating a huge amount of time and effort to finding Zabini."

"I see…"

"From the interview we have conducted, I'm sure you can tell that Mr Malfoy is innocent. "

"Innocent!" She spluttered, "He's hardly innocent! Dumbledore! Need I say more?!"

"In regards to the Lestrange brothers' scheme, he was innocent and forced to partake."

"Fine." She sighed.

"Hermione, as I'm sure you understand, Mr Malfoy is in great danger right now. He is probably being hunted down as we speak, and Rodolphus in particular is a vengeful character. I can only imagine what would happen if he were to get hold of Mr Malfoy once more."

"Yes. I understand."

"But not only is he in danger, but he _is_ danger himself. The bonds we had to use to prevent him from using magic were more extreme than you could imagine, and he has access to some of the powers of the darkest witches and wizards currently alive. Including Rodolphus and Rabastan."

"Merlin. That's dangerous, Minister."

"Indeed. And due to this, we have to keep him away from the Ministry. It is far too obvious to have him held here, and if we did, we could be subject to uncountable attacks. Moreover, Mr Malfoy would be in danger. Now, we cannot keep him in Azkaban, and though we could easily move him to a secluded location, we cannot only have him guarded. He needs to be protected too."

"That makes sense." She sighed.

"Hermione, our lack of Aurors means there is only one person who qualifies for this position."

Her eyes widened. "No! You don't mean… I can't! What about Harry?!" she cried out, desperately.

"Harry is in charge of more than one operation already. But he is also involved in this. I propose that you, Harry, and Mr Malfoy are re-located to a secure location, which no-one except for myself will know about. You will be free to do as you please, and will _not_ be locked away, but one of you must always stay close to Mr Malfoy. He, of course, will be able to use no magic whatsoever."

Hermione slumped in her seat. "For how long? When?"

"Until this situation is resolved. I cannot say. And as to when you should be leaving…your things will be sent to you. Now, Hermione."

She gasped. "I can't do this!"

Kingsley shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry. I wish there was another way, but you know what the consequences are if you refuse."

Moments passed in silence, before Hermione slowly stood up, more determined than ever.

"I guess I'll be moving in with Malfoy, then."

***GASP***

**Yep, two enemies stuck in a house together...now I wonder where that'll lead? =P **

**Well, since we're already doing so well for reviews, I'm going to be greedy and ask for 15 for an update. Okay, well that's not the real reason. The truth is that I can't write fast enough to keep up with posting every day at 10 reviews - so yeah. At 25 reviews (okay, that's 13 reviews, not 15, but still =P I like round numbers...) I'll update.**

**Thank you all for your support!**

**Tris xx**


	3. Chapter 3 - Isolation

**Chapter 3 – Isolation**

**Hi guys =D No, we didn't get to 25 reviews, but we did get to 20...and I'm finding it so hard not to post every day! So, here's another chapter...I've got to warn you, it's not brilliant, and later chapters are MUCH better, but still.**

**So, I'm actually writing at the moment...and listening to pretty much EVERY cover on the net of the song "We Can't Stop" by Miley Cyrus. Yeah, so I think the video isn't...great...but there are actually some absolutely GORGEOUS covers on YouTube. Okay, I'll shut up now. This is completely irrelevant, but I'm in a weird mood. **

"Apparition, I presume?" Hermione asked, as she and Kingsley left his office.

"Correct."

She hesitated for a moment. "So, where are we going now?"

"To collect Mr Malfoy."

She stopped short in her tracks. "I don't understand…why are we…sorry. What?!"

"Miss Granger," Kingsley had reverted back to a more formal manner of speech now that they didn't have the privacy of his office to shield them, "No-one knows about this operation, except for those involved and myself. I will be escorting you to the area."

Hermione swallowed. "I understand. Minister, can I ask you something?"

"Always." He smiled wearily.

"What happens if he…misbehaves?"

A flicker of amusement swept across Kingsley's face. "Then you have my permission to discipline him as you wish."

They had stopped outside a window-less room, and Kingsley quickly pushed open the door and ushered Hermione in, to find Draco sitting on a chair, a nonchalant smirk on his face. Beneath the cool exterior, she could see a hint of panic, but he was concealing it well.

"You have no idea how wrong that sounded, Granger."

"What?!"

"Obviously not as clever as you claim." Hermione began to turn puce. "I was referring to the comments of "misbehaviour" and "discipline"."

Hermione's face darkened even more; now, with embarrassment. "Shut up, Malfoy." She hissed.

Kingsley stepped forward, acting as though he hadn't heard their exchange. "Shall we?" he asked Hermione.

She nodded. Before Draco could react, the Minister had grabbed both of their arms, and they were spirited away from the Ministry.

Hermione didn't know when she'd see it again.

**ooooo**

They landed with a pop in what seemed to be a kitchen. Hermione sat down on a chair pulled up to a small wooden table, stomach heaving.

"I trust the journey wasn't too hard on you?" Kingsley asked.

"No." She lied, swallowing bile and trying to stop the dizziness consuming her mind. Once the spinning had subsided, she quickly hurried over to a window, and gasped at the scene beyond.

They seemed to be in a cottage, and leading away from it was a cobblestoned path – not unlike one from a fairy-tale. Beyond the path, she could see that the ground actually stopped, and a sheer drop followed, as they were on the edge of a cliff. Below, a vast expanse of water stretched out as far as the eye could see; a mass of crashing waves of azure blue, indigo, turquoise and deep purple. It was beautiful.

She was snapped out by Kingsley speaking again. "I should warn you that there are strong wards extending about two hundred meters around the cottage. That is beyond the cliff face, should you wish to swim. I can assure you that the water is quite safe, and I believe you are capable enough to get yourself down there with breaking any limbs."

She almost laughed, not at Kingsley's attempt at humour, but the fact that he found swimming a priority at the moment.

"I'll leave you to it. I may come and see how you're doing in a few days. Good luck, Hermione." Just before he apparated away, he quickly pointed his wand at Hermione, and she felt a queer sensation, similar to jumping into a pool, wash over her. It was gone in an instant, however, as was Kingsley.

She turned to Draco, to find him standing motionless behind her, but quickly turned back at the sound of another pop, to find Harry standing by the table.

"Hermione!" he cried out, and quickly came over to hug her. "Are you alright?" he shot a glare at Draco.

"I have no interest in harming your bloody Gryffindor-Princess, Potter." Draco sneered. Harry ignored him.

"Look, I have to quickly see Ginny, but I'll be back soon. I might not stay here every night though…they need me at the Ministry too." He warned her.

"That's ok." She smiled. "I'll come with you."

Harry froze. "What do you mean?"

She looked at him, confused. "I'll come with you to see Ginny…is that ok?"

"Hermione, you can't."

"Well." She looked down, feeling rejected. "You only had to say, I don't want to intrude on - "

"I can't believe Kingsley didn't tell you!"

"Tell me what?" she began to panic.

"Hermione, you can't leave! You can't go past the boundaries, like Malfoy. They can't risk the operation at all…but I'm needed to run some others back at home, so - "

"I WHAT?!" She screamed.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered. "I'll be back later, I promise. And I'll speak to Kingsley."

"Harry! Wait!"

But he'd already gone.

Tears of frustration pricked her eyelids, and she desperately tried not to burst into tears in front of Draco.

"Go on, Granger." He taunted her.

"What is it, Malfoy?" she hissed.

"I know you're going to try to leave anyway. And I'm betting the _bookworm_ can find a solution." He goaded her.

"Fine!" she knew he was doing it on purpose, but she closed her eyes anyway, and imagined herself back at home.

Nothing happened.

"Crap." Draco ran forward. "Try again!"

"I thought you wanted me stuck here."

"I can't be left with you. Try harder!"

"It's no use, Malfoy." She tried to push past him, but as she brushed his arm he shoved her away, hard.

"Get your filthy mudblood hands off me!"

"Leave me alone!" she shouted, trying to push past again. This time Draco pushed her harder, and she found herself blocked by his tall figure.

"Malfoy." She hissed. "I'm warning you. MOVE!"

"Granger. I'm warning _you_" his tone was low, menacing. "Don't EVER touch me again, mudbl - "

"STUPEFY!" she yelled, and advanced, breathing heavily from the confrontation as Draco's body was flung against the wall.

"Just remember," she hissed, over his unconscious body, "I'm the "mudblood" with the wand."

**ooooo**

Hermione pushed open the door to the first room on the landing, and found it exactly as her bedroom was at home. She quickly locked the door, and slumped onto her bed, exhausted from her confrontation.

"What should I do, Ron?" she whispered, staring at the walls, covered in pictures of him, smiling, laughing, kissing her. The Weasleys said that it her "obsession" with him wasn't helping her move on, but she didn't care. She needed to see his face.

Slowly, she reached over to her bedside table, and opened it. The letter was precisely where she'd left it at home. She read it, and as she did every night, began to cry. The tears fell, faster and faster, before she began to rock with uncontrollable sobs. Eventually, when she could cry no more, she placed it back in her drawer, and whispered to the framed picture of him next to her bed, only another part of her routine.

"I'm sorry."

**Meep...you will find out what happened to Ron very, very soon. I promise. Nik - I didn't actually realise that I've done Blaise bashing in both my fics...that's a complete coincidence! Or maybe my subconscious mind is trying to tell me something...**

**So, I'd love to hear your thoughts, as always. At 30 reviews I'll update!**

**Love you all,**

**Tris xx**


	4. Chapter 4 - Attack

**Chapter 4 - Attack**

**Thank you so much everyone! 10 reviews overnight...and, as I promised, here's another update. But first...I have something to say. I got my first flame for Uncovered last night; "Jen", if you're out there, I'd like you to read this:**

**Firstly, saying "sorry" at the beginning of your review doesn't change the fact that basically, all you did was insult me. Constructive criticism is always welcome, but your review was just plain horrible. I'd like to point our that Uncovered was my first story, so sure, there are going to be mistakes, but I'll learn from them, and move on! If you "just couldn't read it any more" then why the HELL did you bother in the first place if you hated my story so much?! You said that it sounded like my story was written by a 13 year old. Well guess what? It was. I AM 13, and I'm proud for writing a story that got more than 300 reviews the first time round. I'm sure that's more than you can say for yourself. And really, "blackmail requests"?! Asking for people to comment on work you've spent hours on is NOT blackmail, and I already mentioned that I was going to do it whether other people like it or not. "Jen", if your aim was to make a kid cry, then congrats. Because you did. And you called me childish - I'm not the one who posted a spineless, hurtful review anonymously on a kid's first ever story. **

**Now who's cowardly?**

**I guess that I really need to thank you guys who have supported me from the beginning: your lovely comments and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism have helped me more than you can imagine. Right, on with the chapter!**

Hermione woke up shivering, and as she rolled over, she realised that she'd left the window open the entire night. She could feel the sea breeze and almost imagine flecks of salt spitting against her window as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. She checked her watch: 12:45pm. It was late. The exhaustion had obviously gotten to her with the events of yesterday, and it was almost a relief not to have to rush to get ready.

She rubbed her arms, trying to stop the prickling sensation on her skin as she slowly stood up. Something didn't feel right. What the problem was – that was an entirely different issue. Shaking her head to try and send the confusion she felt away, she stepped into the adjoining door to her bedroom, into her bathroom.

It was small, but it would do.

**ooooo**

She breathed deeply, stepping out from the bathroom and scraping her wild hair back into a bun. The humidity from her ridiculously hot shower had caused it to frizz up beyond belief, and that only added to her building frustration about yesterday's events. She'd hoped that the scalding heat of the water would somehow wash away her irritation, but it had obviously failed to do so. And as she pulled on her jeans and t-shirt – with the caption: PERNICKETY AND PROUD emblazoned across the front – anger suddenly gave way to anxiety. She'd realised what had felt so wrong.

Quickly, she burst out of her room, and stared down the hallway. She'd woken up late, and she knew for a fact that Harry was ALWAYS an early riser. He'd said he'd stay at the cottage overnight, and since the vanquishing of Voldemort, he'd developed an unhealthy obsession with…cooking. Every morning, without fail, she and Ginny would be treated to a full breakfast, contents varying, which Harry managed to create in the tiny kitchen of the house the three of them shared. Her thoughts deviated away for a moment, as she wondered about Ginny. Hopefully, she'd gone back to the Burrow to stay until the whole business with Draco was over.

Then, she snapped back to reality. The house was deathly silent – no pots and pans clanking, and no disgustingly cheery whistling came from downstairs. She knew that her thoughts probably sounded ridiculously paranoid, but on top of the silence, she had…a feeling. Something was definitely wrong. She barged into the first room next to hers – the door was ajar – but it was completely empty.

"Harry?" she called out, moving along to the next room.

No reply.

As she forced the door open, the sight that greeted her brought a flurry of panic to her stomach. Harry Potter, the boy-who-lived, was trussed up of his bed, crudely tied with simple rope, and gagged using…what looked like a pillow case. And he was sporting a huge lump on his forehead.

"HARRY!" She ran forward, tripping over a lamp shade on the floor. There'd obviously been some kind of fight. "And you call yourself an Auror," she muttered, as she deftly pulled away the bonds restricting him. "Are you ok?"

"No." he answered, coughing as he tried to stand up. She gently pushed him back onto the bed. "Malfoy," he croaked, "Malfoy. Took my wand. I was sleeping. GO!"

"Crap." She turned, and sprinted out of the doorway, taking the steps downstairs two at a time and grabbing her wand from her pocket as she burst out of the cottage. He couldn't have gone far, thanks to the wards, but he had a wand with him. The magical bonds the Ministry had used had prevented him from doing wandless magic, but she didn't know if they'd still work now that he'd gotten hold of Harry's wand. The Ministry hadn't accounted for him attacking her best friend, she thought, hysteria bubbling up in her throat as laughter, as she desperately scanned the landscape, the wind whipping her hair wildly.

Just then, she caught sight of a figure, almost completely blending in with the landscape, standing on the edge of the cliff. His right arm was raised, and even from the distance between them, she could hear him bellowing over the crash of the waves. She ran, her feet pounding against the harsh rock of the ground, breath ragged, and she gasped, and stopped in her tracks as she neared. The radiance from when they first saw Draco was back, but this time it had at least twice the strength and she had to shield her eyes from him as she stumbled closer. The glow emitted from his entire body, radiating through the fog and bouncing of the ground, forming a prism of light around him. The low, guttural tones of his chanting increased in volume, and it took all of her self-will not to turn and flee back to the house.

Breathing deeply, she slowed her footsteps, thanking Merlin for her Auror training, then sending out one, final thought of luck, before she ran forward. What she hadn't anticipated, was the sudden slipperiness of spray of the cliff face, and she tripped slightly, dropping her wand. Draco stopped chanting, and began to turn at the sound the clatter the wood made on the rock, but she managed to leap forward, clinging onto his back.

The element of surprise had given her the opportunity to pull his right arm behind his back and snatch Harry's wand away from him, which she quickly threw over her head and out of his reach in the direction of the cottage.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" he roared, trying to turn away from her grasp.

"Not smart, Malfoy." She spat, jerking his arm further behind his back, trying to ignore his roars of pain as she tightened her hold on his neck.

She loosened her hold slightly however, in confusion as Draco suddenly stopped struggling, and that split second was all the time he needed to grab her arms and flip her over his head, so she was suddenly lying on the ground as he towered over her. Strangely, she realised that he wasn't actually hurting her, but only seemed intent on pinning her down. And he was freakishly strong; it must have been an effect of drinking the concoction Rodolphus and Rabastan had prepared. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to banish the image of him leaning over her, hair flopping over his storm-grey eyes – which were the exact same hue as the wild sea the moment. She could feel his breath on her neck, and she cowered away…trying to play helpless.

"Wonderful move, Granger." He hissed, "It would have been better if you didn't have the skills of a crippled hippogriff."

"What were you doing?" she whispered, eyes still closed, and as she'd anticipated, he leaned closer still.

"None of your - " at that exact moment, she pulled her arm free from his slackened grip, and punched him hard in the face. He reeled backwards, and she leapt to her feet, advancing quickly. His arms were flailing as he teetered on the edge of the cliff, and Kingsley's words suddenly sprang to mind:

_"The water is perfectly safe."_

"Better trust the expert." She muttered, before lifting her leg and slamming it into Draco's torso. What she hadn't realised, was that she'd given him the perfect position to grab her leg, which was exactly what he did before he disappeared over the edge, pulling her with him.

And together, they dropped off the edge of the cliff face, clinging to each other for life and plunging towards the waves below.

**...Stupid, stupid Draco. So, if you want to find out which one of them dies (just joking!) I'll be posting at 40 reviews. Thank you so much for your comments so far - I'd love to hear more!**

**Love you all,**

**Tris xx**


	5. Chapter 5 - Confrontations

**Chapter 5 – Confrontations**

**Hi everyone. I'm so sorry, I know I should have posted yesterday, but I was out for the entire day. But thank you all so much! 45 reviews! So happy right now =D**

**Okay, your reviews were all wonderful, and thank you all so much for your support. I've got a couple to respond to:**

**Umm...snuffles? I'm not even going to ask =P Okay thanks for your honesty - and the compliment! You made me smile. I'm sorry you feel that way...but not everything we do HAS to be necessary, per se. A bit late for me to do that now, but regarding my profile: thanks for your opinion. I've taken a LOT off it, and I'm actually happier with it the way it is now. So you prefer it like that? **

**Guest: Right, please, please read the chapter properly before you criticise my work! Because every question you asked was answered in that chapter: Harry and Hermione weren't stupid. I already mentioned that they'd put wards around the entire house, so it was unnecessary to have them on the rooms too. They didn't expect Draco to go crazy and run out of there! He wouldn't have been able to leave anyway. He still has the magical repression bracelets on - I already said that Draco couldn't perform wandless magic, and they obviously didn't expect him to steal Harry's wand, so they weren't sure whether or not the bracelets would still work. Hope that explains it. Um, I'm not going to stop asking people to comment because it irritates you. Sorry? But thanks for the review anyway. **

**Okay, so if you also have any questions, please feel free to ask me anything. On with the chapter!**

Time seemed to freeze as they fell. Was it seconds? Minutes? Hours? She didn't know. All she was aware of was the sound of their ragged breathing, and the pounding of the waves in her ears. Or was that blood?

Then, as quickly as it had started, it was over, and she felt the air being forced out of her lungs as they slammed into the water. The pain was excruciating, the cold was agonising, and she could feel it slowly seeping into her bones as they sank, down, down, down.

She couldn't see, couldn't feel, and began to sense her consciousness slipping away…until she heard something. She didn't know if she'd imagined it or not, but she was almost certain that someone was calling her name. Slowly, she snapped back into reality, and with a last burst of newfound strength, she grabbed what she hoped was Draco's arm, and forced them up towards the surface, one kick at a time.

Kick.

Pull.

Kick. Pull.

Drag.

Kick.

Pull.

Kick. Pull.

Drag.

She repeated the mantra over and over in her head, until finally they burst out of the water, the cold air hitting her like a wave as she desperately tried to stay afloat.

"HERMIONE!"

There. The voice. Again. She looked up, squinting into the sunlight, and managed to make out the outline of a figure at the top of the cliff. Harry.

"HOLD ON!"

She didn't have the strength to answer, and desperately squeezed her eyes shut.

"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!"

She could feel herself being lifted, and clung onto Draco's arm in panic, until suddenly a sharp, jarring sensation travelled up her arm. She opened one eye, to find herself lying back on the rock near the cottage.

Relief overcame her, as she began to splutter, coughing up the remnants of salt water from her lungs. She sat up, exhausted.

"Thanks, Harry." She managed to whisper. He looked shattered. She could only imagine how difficult it was to lift two, fully-grown people hundreds of meters using only a simple charm.

"Hey, thanks to you, I'll always remember it's "LeviOsa", not "LevioSA"!" he laughed weakly.

She suddenly jumped up, remembering Draco. "Malfoy!" she shouted.

"Is behind you." She turned and hurried over to his limp body, lying near the edge of the cliff face.

"Help me!"

Harry rushed over, and together they managed to roll him away from the edge.

"Bloody Kingsley said it was safe." She muttered, ignoring her exhaustion, and beginning to prod him.

"He didn't want you to jump off the cliff." Harry commented. She shot him a glare.

"Go see if we have some pepper-up potion. And run a hot bath, for the love of Merlin!"

"But - "

"NOW!" she snapped, and he hurried inside without another word. "Come on," she hissed, starting revival-procedure. Thank Godric her parents had been so insistent she take a summer course at St John's when she was a kid. She quickly tilted Draco's head, and taking a deep breath, she leaned forward and parted his lips, gently putting her own to them and forcing oxygen into his lungs. Seconds later, she felt a twitch, and opened her eyes to see his grey ones staring up at her in a mixture of confusion and anger. He shoved her away from him, and leaned over the side of the cliff, coughing, and then throwing up. Violently.

"Wonderful." She muttered.

"What the HELL were you doing, Granger?!" Draco had turned to her, blanched even whiter than usual, and looked positively menacing with his clothes dripping, glaring at her.

"I just saved your bloody life!" she hissed, suddenly overcome with fury. How dare he shout at her, when he'd been the one to get them into this mess!

"My snogging me?!" he began to spit exaggeratedly, as though trying to get rid of the "germs" she must have given him.

She grabbed his shoulder, and tried to pull him up, slinging his arm over her back and half-dragging him back to the house, ignorant to her own injuries. "It's a muggle procedure! But you'd be too wrapped up in your own pureblood world to know, wouldn't you?!" she spat.

He pulled away from her, collapsing to the ground immediately, but nevertheless looked up, eyes blazing. "You used a muggle procedure on me? With your filthy, mudblood hands?"

"You know what?! You can get back to the house by yourself, you stupid…ferret!" she half-heartedly kicked him on the shin for good measure, and stormed away, leaving a trail of water behind her.

"Ferret? That's the best you can come back with?" he called after her.

She stopped at the cottage's doorway, turning around slowly. "How about Egotistical. Stupid. Ignorant. Selfish. Deceitful. Incapable. Traitorous-bastard. And foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach!?" then she stalked inside, slamming the door behind her.

"That's more like it." He murmured.

**ooooo**

Hermione lay in the bathtub, surrounded by bubbles, shivering nonetheless and cradling a huge mug of hot chocolate, lulled into a state of calm by the scent of jasmine mixed with cocoa. She stared sleepily at her wand lying on the edge of the tub next to her. Thankfully, Harry had found it on his way back to the cottage. He'd also rushed her upstairs in a creepily similar manner to Mrs Weasley as soon as she'd entered, and she could hear him clattering about in the kitchen; clearly taking his anger at Draco out on the poor pots and pans, she thought, smiling at the idea. When she looked over at the clock on the wall, she realised that she'd been in the tub for almost an hour. She sighed, and slowly stood up, wiping away the last of the soap suds and pulling on some shorts and a shirt Harry had lent her.

She couldn't have cared less about Draco, she thought guiltily, satisfying her conscience by thinking that he deserved to lie in the cold for what he'd said about her. And she'd heal him as soon as he was inside, she added, hurriedly.

She slowly made her way down the stairs, but stopped as she entered the kitchen.

Draco was back.

He was sitting at the table – IN HIS BOXERS – and lounging back as Harry piled mountains of food onto a plate in front of him. In his current state, it was easy to see the injuries he'd sported from their fall, she thought with some satisfaction.

"Harry!" she exclaimed.

"Hi Hermione." He grinned.

"What are you doing?!"

"Oh." He looked at Draco, guiltily, but was saved from answering by Draco himself.

"Nice, Granger." He smirked.

She glared at him. "What is it now?"

He simply stared at her pointedly. She looked down at herself, and gasped in horror as she realised that her wet hair had dripped down Harry's white shirt, making at cling to her and become almost entirely transparent. Which meant they could see her underwear, in all its glory. She flushed crimson and quickly cast a drying charm on herself, thus her dignity was salvaged, and turned to Draco, eyes flashing.

"You…pervert! You disgusting, bloody perv!"

"Hey!" he glared back, "I wasn't the one strutting around half naked! You think I WANTED to see…_that_?" he shuddered.

"Oh, you - " she tried to jump forward, but Harry quickly sprang in front of her.

"Hey, Hermione. Calm, okay? He's not worth it."

She sighed, and turned her attention on him instead. "Well then. You can explain what all this is!" she pointed to the feast laid out in front of him, and to her surprise, Draco scowled instead of smirking again.

"Ah." Harry blushed. "You see, I - "

"Harry! You just wanted to cook for someone, didn't you?!"

"Well, I…"

"For the love of Merlin, cook for me, cook for Ginny, but NOT for that stupid ferret!" she bellowed, already agitated from the "shirt incident".

"No, Hermione!" he spoke hastily, "You don't understand! I asked what he hated to eat, and I made all his most detested dishes – and I'm forcing him to eat them all!" He grinned, proudly.

She raised a sceptical eyebrow and turned to Draco.

"It's true." He nodded grudgingly.

"Harry. You have issues." She shook her head.

"I work through them."

"I'm getting up." Draco stood up, but was quickly combated by Harry and Hermione yelling in unison:

"NO!"

"I don't want the bloody food!"

"EAT IT!" Hermione screamed, and shot a stinging jinx at his left hand.

"OW! YOU BLOODY WITCH!"

She smiled smugly. "That is correct."

"Hermione." Harry hastily pulled her to the side before she could cause any more damage. "I need to speak to you."

She turned, to see Draco frowning and slowly spooning piles of what looked like peas and carrots into his mouth. "Yes?"

"It's about Malfoy." He hissed.

She quickly grabbed his arm, dragging him next door into the sitting room. "What happened?"

"I've been thinking. I saw what Malfoy was doing when you went after him, and when he stole my wand, I could feel that he was freakishly strong. I didn't think anything of it at the time – but he can do magic using a wand with the Ministry bonds on, and he almost overpowered the pair of us. It's got to be something to do with the stuff Rabastan and Rodolphus made him drink…"

"Merlin." She ran her fingers through her hair. "I was hoping it wasn't true. I'm trying to act like it wasn't a big deal around him - "

"Exactly! Otherwise he'll suspect something." Harry finished her sentence.

"Precisely. Harry, what do we do?"

"I thought about that too. The food's a distraction. He'll keep eating it if you carry on shooting jinxes at him when he disobeys." He tried to grin. "Hermione, we need to see Kingsley. I'm going – now. Malfoy could be even more dangerous than we thought he was."

"Kingsley!" Hermione panicked. "Draco, he'll kill me! We – namely, I – was supposed to be "looking after" him as well as protecting him! And," she added, sulkily, "I'm still furious with him."

"Deal with it." Harry said firmly. "I'm going to get him now. I'll be at least half an hour – you know, you're lucky to have gotten out of that with pretty much no injuries. Use the time to heal Malfoy's." and he disapparated from the cottage with a "crack" before Hermione could object.

"Harry Potter," she balled her fists, "you are INFURIATING."

**Okay, a quick shout-out for both Hufflepuffelephant and Virg0Luck. They've both just started new fics, which are amazing, so please go check them out!**

**Regarding Ron: well...all I can say is PATIENCE! Everything will be explained.**

**I hope you guys liked this chapter...it was fun to write. The interesting stuff will start soon, and at 55 reviews I'll post again. I'd love to hear what you thought was good/bad etc. about this one...**

**Tris xx**


	6. Chapter 6 - Outbursts

**Chapter 6 – Outbursts**

**Hi everyone. So, we didn't get 10 reviews, but I decided to post anyway. Okay, I have to thank you all so much, because this summer has been simply amazing...but now, life's starting to get busy again what with school starting and all that, so I know that I'll find it much harder to find time to write and post. I will try to post chapters whenever I can, however. But yeah - I thought all you wonderful people deserved a warning. Okay! So here's the chapter: enjoy!**

"Malfoy," Hermione slowly trudged back into the kitchen, "get up."

Draco looked at her, suspiciously. "Why?"

She sighed. "So I can heal your injuries." She pointed to the various bruises and scratches on his body, some of which were actually fairly deep.

"You mean the ones YOU caused?!"

"It wasn't my bloody fault you decided to be a moronic idiot and run off – we're only trying to protect you!"

"Then why do I have these on?!" he pointed to the bands of light encircling his separate wrists.

"Today's incident, multiplied by a hundred. Need I say more?" she glared at him. "Now get up."

He frowned obstinately at her in return. "What if I don't want to be healed?"

"Don't be stupid!" he was exasperating her already. "Get up!" she moved forward, and grabbed his wrist, but he jerked it away quickly.

"How dare you talk to me like that, you…you filthy mudblood?"

She stopped in shock, then, quick as a flash, slapped him hard across the face. His head snapped back, and he slowly turned to face her, a red hand imprinted on his cheek.

"Do not EVER talk to me like that again." She hissed, "If anything, I am superior to you. I'm the one who helped save the Wizarding World from your bloody family, and I'M the one who's actually achieved something in her life. I am ALSO one of the main figures in the team that saved YOU, you ungrateful wretch, so don't you ever even think about speak to me like that again." her tone was low, and menacing.

To her surprise, Draco simply swallowed hard. "I still hate you. Don't flatter yourself and think the only reason is because we're from different types of societies."

"I couldn't care less. I am NOT beneath you, and I'm fed-up of you acting like I am, understand?"

He scowled.

"Do you understand?"

"Granger, I still believe you are beneath me - " he motioned for her to wait with his hand, "but I won't mention your blood status." He said this with a sneer. "That was mainly my father's belief anyway." He quickly dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. "I believe that you are beneath me in many other aspects, but I won't mention "blood" anymore. And you can't change my thoughts on that."

She gaped for a minute. Was he accepting that they were equal – in blood status, at least? How did that happen so quickly? She realised she shouldn't be complaining. "Fine." She nodded, "Because I know that I'm superior to you anyway. Now stand up."

He slowly stood so they were she was staring straight at his chest. She was suddenly aware of their proximity…and the fact that he was half naked.

"Put some bloody trousers on, Malfoy!"

He smirked. "Like what you're seeing, mu-" he stopped himself. "Granger?"

She twisted her lips. "Don't flatter yourself. Put these on." She grabbed a pair of Harry's trousers which were drying over a chair.

"Potter's?" he looked disgusted.

"Do it." She warned.

When he'd finished putting the trousers on, she motioned for him to follow her into the living room. "Lie down." She pointed to a sofa. "Stomach first."

"What, so you can sneak up behind me, then choke me with your hair?! I swear, there's enough of it to make a nest for a hippogriff!"

"Hippogriffs don't have nests." She spat.

"For the love of Merlin, Granger! You're more affected by an incorrect fact than an insult. I understand why you and Potter are friends now – you're both complete freaks."

"Shut up Malfoy. Just remember, I'm doing this for you."

"I DON'T WANT TO BE HEALED!"

"Stop acting like a stupid baby! You can't - "

"All babies are stupid."

"In that case, stop acting like a baby." She corrected, her tone laced with sarcasm. "Those wounds are going to open up, and fester if you don't treat them. So just lie down already!"

"Don't act like you care!"

"OF COURSE I DON'T BLOODY CARE!" She screamed, "BUT KINGSLEY DOES!"

He froze, shocked. "Shacklebolt doesn't care about me." He scoffed, but she could see some desperation behind his eyes.

"I meant that he trusts me to be looking after you."

She stopped speaking too late, realising that for a moment Draco had actually thought that someone was worried about his well-being – but the cold exterior quickly replaced his short-lasting vulnerability.

"I'm not a child, Granger." He spoke emotionlessly.

"No. I thought we'd already established that you were a baby?" she rolled her eyes. But when she looked at him, waiting for his response, she realised he was silently lying on the sofa as she'd asked him to.

"Hurry up, Granger." His voice was muffled by the cushions.

"Finally." She muttered, and knelt beside him. She slowly began to trace over the wounds with her wand, muttering, and actually feeling some satisfaction when Draco winced with pain. He should have listened to her earlier.

When she'd done the best job she could on his back, she instructed him to turn over, and suddenly found herself leaning over him and staring straight into his eyes. He stared right back.

"I just realised something." He muttered.

"What?" she whispered, for some unknown reason.

"Your eyes aren't the colour I thought they were."

She didn't speak.

"They're even more disgusting than I'd previously believed."

She quickly drew back, snapped out of that strange bubble. "Like you're the most gorgeous guy I've seen." She pushed his head up.

"What are you doing?!" he began to struggle.

"Stop it! I need to look at your neck!"

"GET OFF!" For some strange reason, he seemed to be in a complete state of panic.

"Malfoy! Stop it! There's a cut under there, and it could be serious!"

"NO!" He roared, and she realised that he was far too strong for her. Quickly, she drew back and pointed her wand at him.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" she shouted, and Draco immediately froze, back and neck arched.

She hurried forward, trying to ignore the sheer fear she could see in his eyes. "I don't know what your problem is, Malfoy, but I'm trying to help you." She muttered, "So bear with me." And she began to heal the slash above his collar-bone.

When she looked up at him for a moment, she could see him still staring at her, looking positively petrified. It was unnerving. She looked back down, trying to focus on her task. "You're so bloody difficult." She mumbled to herself.

"So I've heard."

She whirled round, to see Kingsley and Harry standing behind her. She had been so absorbed in her task, that she didn't hear them apparate. She blushed.

"I…didn't hear you come in."

"Quite." Kingsley replied, before she quickly remembered that HE was the reason she was in this mess in the first place.

"You tricked me!" she folded her arms, glaring at him. Harry looked away, pretending to be fascinated by the bricks next to the door.

A pained expression crossed Kingsley's face. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I couldn't tell you…you probably would have refused to come here if I had."

"Now where would you get an idea like that from?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "And why is Harry allowed to a leave?"

"We can't risk Mr Malfoy's safety in any way." Kingsley pointed at Draco; it appeared he hadn't realised he was frozen.

"That doesn't explain why Harry can come and go as he wishes, and I can't!" she exclaimed.

"We don't want to risk Mr Malfoy's safety." Kingsley began, "But we need Harry back at the Ministry for a number of other reasons. He's running part of the Zabini Movement investigation for one, and he's also helping us track V-DARK – in fact the only reason he's involved in this is because I felt you may find it easier!"

She frowned. "Fine."

"Oh, Hermione." Harry stepped forward. "Speaking of the Ministry – can I speak to you next door for a moment?"

She nodded, and allowed Harry to lead her back into the kitchen.

"So?" she hissed, "Did you tell Kingsley?"

Harry nodded slowly. "He's going to try to strengthen the bonds – he's not actually sure what happened to Malfoy, but he's worried. But Hermione, I do actually need to talk to you about the Ministry." He looked serious.

"What happened?"

"There's been a breakthrough in one of my cases – and we may have an idea of where Zabini is."

"That's great!"

"But it means I'll have to go away for a few days."

Her expression quickly turned to one of panic. "No…no, Harry. Harry, you can't do this to me!" she cried out, desperately. "You saw what a maniac Malfoy is! You can't leave me alone with him!"

"Kingsley's putting charms on him right now. You'll be fine; I promise…I have to go, Hermione. They need me more than you do."

At that precise moment, the Minister himself walked through the door. "We could hear everything you were saying." He was clearly trying not to smile, and quickly close the door.

"The charms? Malfoy?" Hermione asked.

Kingsley's expression immediately became grave. "Yes. I strengthened the bonds…he shouldn't be able to perform magic with a wand now. But what I can't understand is his strength…"

"It's something to do with Rabastan and Rodolphus." Hermione said firmly.

"It may be. In any case, he shouldn't be a problem now. He just needs to understand that we're trying to help him."

Harry looked at his watch. "I should be going now."

Kingsley nodded, but Hermione grabbed Harry's arm. "Wait. This is completely unfair. What am I supposed to do whilst you're gone?"

"Relax, Hermione! You work too much! And don't forget that you've got Malfoy to keep an eye on." Harry smiled.

"It's not funny. This is ridiculous. I want something to work on! I could be of use to you!" she turned to Kingsley, but he shook his head.

"I'm afraid it would be too dangerous to give you any documents or information considering the fact that you share this house with Mr Malfoy."

"Well fine then! If you won't give me anything to do, I'll find my own work! You don't seem bothered by the fact that Malfoy is disturbingly strong, and performed magic with a wand that isn't his, with Ministry bonds on! Who knows what else he's capable of? I have my own books, and I have work to do. I'm going to get to the bottom of this. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try and do something worthwhile with my life, considering the fact that I'm obviously not good enough to do anything which could assist you!" she seemed to forget that she was speaking to the Minister of Magic, and pulled the door open violently, storming up the stairs and into her room, slamming the door behind her.

Harry slowly turned to Kingsley, rubbing his forehead. "She's stressed. Sorry about that…I'll try speaking to her later. She'll come round."

Kingsley nodded, slowly. "We'll just have to hope so."

**So, Draco and Hermione left alone in the house...I know that there's not been much Dramione action so far, but I promise that there's a lot coming up. And answers! Ron etc. Can I ask for 62 reviews? That would be amazing.**

**Love you all,**

**Tris xx**


	7. Chapter 7 - Dinner

**Chapter 7 – Dinner**

**Hi everyone! I'm back! Hmm, we're not doing nearly as well as I'd hoped we would with reviews...but still. Thank you all for the support. Okay, this is a pretty long chapter...so I hope you enjoy it!**

Hermione sighed, pressing her forehead with the tips of her fingers. She was unbelievably embarrassed about her behaviour towards Kingsley, but she didn't regret what she'd said. It was all true. She just could have phrased it better. And, true to her word, she'd studied, trying to find out about Draco's strange conditions until she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer, and when she'd woken up the next morning, she'd hit the books again. 7pm in the evening, and she hadn't left her room once. She exhaled slowly, and looked back down at the passage she was reading.

_To split one's soul is a painful process, and often requires more than initial beliefs. But though the most traditional form is of obtaining horcruxes, there are other methods._

She leant forward, suddenly interested.

_Though not exactly defined as splitting the soul, one can become part of others through much simpler forms of magic. Yet, they will still remain themselves. The process does not have to be performed alone, and it must always involve the essence of others. To partake in the routine, a sacrifice plays an important role for the subject, and they must absorb part of another to gain their powers._

She almost screamed in frustration, and slammed the book shut. It made no sense whatsoever, and was related to Draco in no way at all. She looked at her watch, and realised that she should take a break from the work. It wasn't like she was going anywhere, she thought, bitterly.

Quickly changing out of her pyjamas – there had been no reason to dress up if she was in her bedroom – and slipping on a dress, she tied her hair up and observed her reflection. She looked fine. There would be no reason for Draco criticize her appearance, at least…though he'd probably find something or the other wrong with her, being the insufferable twat he was.

She began to walk down the stairs as she thought. To be fair, he had stayed out of her way the entire day. She was impressed – though he'd most likely be wreaking havoc downstairs. She reached the landing, and stepped through to the kitchen. No sign of him anywhere – though there was a bottle of firewhiskey open on the countertop. It was half full – or half empty, she thought, with a hollow laugh. At the moment, she was feeling more like the pessimistic side of her character. So half empty it was.

As she neared, she realised that there was a note tied around the neck of the bottle, and a small, wrapped parcel next to it.

_Hermione. Left this morning – you were asleep._

No. She was studying. She frowned, and continued to read.

_I'm sorry about what you've been put through, and I promise that I wouldn't leave unless it was absolutely necessary. I'll be back before you know it…and I've made sure that Malfoy stays out of your way, so you should be fine. If anything at all happens – I'm not talking Malfoy. You know what I mean – send a patronus to Kingsley. He'll be here as soon as possible. Thinking of you,_

_Harry. _

She swallowed, slightly unnerved by the fact that Harry had practically admitted that they might be found by the Lestrange brothers and their cronies. It only made her more determined to find out exactly what they'd done to Draco.

Shaking her head, she couldn't help but smile as she unwrapped the gift from Harry. It was a little silver coloured box, shaped like a book, and when she opened it she found a picture of her, Ron and Harry waving at her and grinning. Ginny was peeking out from the edge of the picture, clearly intimidated by Harry, and they all couldn't have been older than eleven. The inscription below read: _Hogwarts, a History. _

From anyone else, she would have thought the present was almost a bribe, but from Harry, it was simply a token of his impossible sweetness. She was still angry, but couldn't deny how charming he was, and though the image of Ron brought back floods of memories…they weren't all bad.

Taking a swig from the bottle of alcohol to steady herself, she began to open cupboards. She wanted to cook dinner the muggle way – sometimes, it was nice to be brought back to reality by doing things the hard way. Only then did she realise what the partly empty bottle meant. Trust Malfoy – she assumed it was him – to help himself. But at least he hadn't unwrapped the present…

She finally found a packet of spaghetti, and chucked it into a pot of boiling water. Adding some salt and pepper, she quickly cut a tomato from the fridge in half and threw it into the pan. That's how chefs these days did it, didn't they? Then, she found some garlic and after pondering about how much to add, put the whole lot in for luck. The final touch was a can of puréed…well; it was meat of some sort. Sitting back to admire her handiwork, she only realised something was wrong until the water began to bubble violently, spilling over the edge of its container and sloshing towards her. Before she could jump back, it had spilt over her hand, and she screamed in agony.

She could hear footsteps thundering down the stairs as Draco burst into the kitchen.

"What in Merlin's name is going on?!" he exclaimed, taking in the sight of the devastated kitchen, and Hermione in the centre of the mess, face screwed up in agony.

"Hot." She choked out, before finding herself being steered into the dining room. She waited in torture for a good few minutes before Draco came out with a bowlful of water, grabbing her hand and thrusting it in as she squirmed.

"It's cold!" she gasped.

"That's the point. Granger, you can revive a choking person, but you don't know how to treat a burn?!" he sneered…but not entirely unkindly. "You have a wand!"

"I panicked!" she began to smirk. "So you admit that I saved you?"

He glared at her. "Be quiet. You should be thanking me."

"No." she smiled, innocently. "Not until you thank me."

"Fine. Then you won't get any dinner."

She immediately stopped smiling, as he began to smirk triumphantly.

"I can make my own dinner!"

"Evidently not. I'll cook for myself, and you won't get any until you apologise."

"You can't cook! You've had bloody house-elves your entire childhood!" she spat, remembering her days of protesting.

He frowned. "That's what I thought. But I've currently got vegetables being stir-fried with soy sauce in the kitchen, and the noodles are being cooked. And I didn't see a tidal wave of boiling water last time I was in there." He actually looked slightly confused. "How do we have all those ingredients anyways?"

"Magic." She spoke sarcastically.

"I wouldn't speak like that if I were you Granger. You've spent the whole day holed up in that room, and I'm sure you want to eat. So you probably want to show some respect." His superior attitude was back, and he looked down at her, flicking his head back to brush some hair away from his eyes.

She hated him.

"I'm sorry. Malfoy." She hissed, through gritted teeth.

He smirked even more. "Didn't quite hear that. Louder, Granger."

"I'm sorry!"

"Now. I don't like your attitude." He placed his hands on the table.

"I'M SORRY!" She yelled, wanting to punch him at the self-satisfied look on his face.

"Apology…accepted." And he turned around. "I have some food to prepare, if you'll excuse me." And he waltzed away.

She couldn't help but smile with pride as she quickly drew her hand out of the bowl and flicked some water at his retreating figure. The stains had begun to spread on his shirt, and he was completely oblivious.

**ooooo**

"Set the table!" Draco shouted. Hermione sighed, and walked into the kitchen, trying to ignore the wonderful smell of Chinese food. Her stomach rumbled.

"What did you say?"

"Set the table." He repeated, without looking up from what he was doing.

She shook her head. He expected them to eat together?! "Why?"

He turned around, spatula in hand. "Look, Granger. I don't exactly want to spend an evening in your company either. But I know that it's only proper to eat at a table when food this good," he pointed at the wok full of noodles, smirking, "has been prepared. And we only have one table. So I repeat: set. The. Table."

She almost screamed with frustration, and didn't even bother arguing as she knew he'd be completely adamant that they did things his way. Grabbing some cutlery and a few plates, she flounced next door without answering. It would only be pointless.

**ooooo**

Unbelievable awkwardness. That was the only way to describe the scene, as Hermione kept her head down while she ate in silence opposite Draco. And to make matters worse, she simply couldn't stop eating, the food tasted too good, and she could see his smug grin increase every time she took a mouthful.

"So, Granger." Draco finally broke the silence – though he hadn't seemed to feel uncomfortable at all. He probably enjoyed watching her discomfort.

"Yes?"

"What do you do in your room all day?" he asked, phrasing it as though he didn't really care – but she could see that he was intrigued.

"Study." She answered.

"That's surprising." He muttered. She glared at him, before he hastily continued. "Studying what?"

She stopped eating, and put her fork down, looking him straight in the eye. "You."

She could see he was completely taken aback by her answer, and internally she gave a little cheer of victory. Eventually, he managed to plaster a half-hearted sneer on his face.

"You wouldn't know anything about my type, would you? Being a - "

"Being a what, Malfoy?" she hissed.

He swallowed. "Nothing."

"That's what I thought. And what is "your type" anyway?" she showed her disgust at his phrasing without holding anything back. "I am of course, so interested. Because, _that's _the reason I'm studying you for sure." Her tone was dripping with sarcasm.

Draco cleared his throat, and with no warning whatsoever, launched into speech. "The Malfoy family consists of an ancient line of pure-blood wizards, most of whom attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and have traditionally been sorted into Slytherin. The family first arrived in Britain with Armand Malfoy, who founded the family estate "Malfoy Manor" on land obtained from King William I. The family is famous for their wealth and status as purebloods, associating with many other pure-blooded families: namely the Blacks, Lestranges, Greengrasses and Rosiers."

Silence.

"Bloody hell. I'll have hair like a toilet brush next." He muttered, looking at her in shock.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you Malfoy? You quote passages like I do, and you can cook…" realisation dawned on her features, "like HARRY!" She jumped out of her seat. "Wait here!" and she scrambled upstairs, much to Draco's confusion.

She stumbled into her room, and grabbed the book on her desk, thundering back down the stairs and slamming it onto the table in front of Draco, ignoring his flinch of surprise. Quickly, she found the passage she'd been reading.

"Read it!" she panted.

"For the love of Merlin - "

"READ IT!" She bellowed, and began to speak as he reluctantly scanned the passage. "I've been trying to understand what Rabastan and Rodolphus did to you. This didn't seem to make any sense, but it explains everything! They said that you'd gained the powers of the other people in the chamber when we found you, and they'd mentioned the "powers" that you'd have. But they were using serious, dark magic! They couldn't have known about everything that ceremony did to you!"

He'd finished reading the passage, and looked up at her blankly.

""A sacrifice": you had your wand taken away. "Absorb part of another": you drank their blood! "Become part of others, yet remain themselves" and "gain their powers": Malfoy, not only did you absorb part of each wizard from V-DARK's ability to perform magic, you're also now absorbing other people's powers! Rabastan and Rodolphus couldn't have known exactly what type of magic they were dealing with, and the text is so… "loose" with its terms! By "powers", it could mean talents! Think of it this way – you are unbelievably strong. You spent a LOT of times around Ministry guards – or Aurors. You performed magic when those," she pointed at his wrists, "weren't modified. Only Kingsley could do something like that. You can suddenly cook, and the only person I know who makes food like that is Harry. And finally, you're reciting passages from books, almost as well as I can." She finished, staring at him.

He remained frozen in his seat, then exhaled slowly. "Sweet Salazar…" he murmured.

"It's true, Malfoy. It's the only thing that makes sense. You're absorbing parts of anyone you come into contact with…and I don't know how much your body can take."

"Does Kingsley…Potter… anyone know about this?" he finally spoke.

She grimaced. "I'm doing this voluntarily. They know nothing about it – and I can only contact Kingsley for an emergency. I wanted something to do, so I decided to try and figure out how you'd been affected by that magic…that's what I've been doing the entire day. And now, I intend to find out more."

"I want to help."

She froze, and looked down at him.

"I want to help." He repeated.

"I don't think - "

"NO! NO, GRANGER! SOMETHING IS HAPPENING TO ME, AND I HAVE THE RIGHT TO FIND OUT WHAT!" he bellowed, standing up so he was towering over her.

"I thought you'd enjoy the extra "powers"" she said, weakly.

"Would you? Look at me! I don't have my wand, I'm being restricted like a criminal, and I'm locked in a house with _you_! I'm in fear for my life, and on top of that, I'm suddenly turning into some sort of supernatural freak! What would you do, Granger?" he neared, so she could feel his breathing, heavy on her neck.

She swallowed, and looked up at him, determined. "We'll start tomorrow."

**Yep. We have a freakish Malfoy on our hands...guys, I have to warn you all that this whole business of them "working" together isn't really a main part in the story. I guess it's just a way to get the slightly closer, so don't expect many answers regarding Draco. To be honest, it's not really an important aspect of the plot at all.**

**Moving on! Yes, yes, I know I keep saying it, but you'll all get answers...soon. Why Draco freaked out in the last chapter and what happened to Ron. I promise! So, hopefully I will be able to post sooner than last time...I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. Therefore - can I ask for 70 reviews for an update? Come on, guys! We only need 11 more...**

**Love you all,**

**Tris xx**


	8. Chapter 8 - Truth

**Chapter 8 – Truth **

**Yes, I'm back! Thank you for the support, my lovelies, and I appreciate every single one of those 11 reviews. So thank you again! I promised you answers...so here you go. Enjoy, guys!**

The next few days passed in a blur for Hermione, and between arguing with Draco, studying with Draco, arguing with Draco some more, and owling Harry to assure him that she hadn't died of frustration, it was a wonder that she found time to sleep all. And her lack of exercise and frequent meals which Draco cooked three times a day – it seemed that he'd acquired both Harry's talent and disturbing passion for cooking – meant that she felt like she was putting on the kilos faster than she could count. Sure, it had only been a few days, and sure, she hadn't been much of a fitness freak earlier, but she suddenly felt the need to exercise. And so, five days since she'd Harry had left, and five days from when she'd started "working" with Draco, she decided to leave the house – despite the fact that she couldn't walk past the boundaries.

Before she left, she quickly grabbed a stack of books, and dropped it outside Draco's bedroom door, as she always did. However, this time, she quickly scratched him a note saying that she'd gone for a walk, and that he should start reading the books without her. She didn't want to simply let him into her room to get the books he needed for the day, as there were far too many private things in there that he could see; not to mention the countless pictures of Ron. Those would be bound to raise some questions.

She pulled on her coat to fight the chill outside, and gently closed the front door. What Hermione had forgotten to do was lock her bedroom door: she'd previously been in her room the whole day anyway, so there was no risk of Draco coming in. But now she'd left the house, he was free to do as he wished.

A grave mistake, to say the least.

**ooooo**

Hermione quickly slipped into the house, relieved, yet almost disappointed by the sudden warmth. The cold outside had been refreshing – if slightly unpleasant – and she felt newly invigorated. Invigorated enough to take on another day of Draco Malfoy, at least.

She climbed the stairs, two at a time, and was about to go into her room when she realised that the pile of books outside Draco's bedroom door was lying exactly where she'd left it, but the note which she'd left was gone.

Strange.

Only when she realised that the house was silent – too silent – did she put two and two together, bursting into her room and praying she was wrong in her prediction. And there, standing in the centre of her room, looking absolutely shocked, was Draco Malfoy. He'd had his back to her, standing stock still but looking at the pictures on the wall, but when she'd burst into the room he'd turned around, and stared at her, terrified.

In his hand was Ron's last letter to her.

"What. Are. You. Doing?" she said, slowly and dangerously quietly, trying to keep the tears out of her voice.

No reply. He was simply staring at her in a mixture of disbelief and confusion.

"You have no right to be in my room."

He finally managed to speak, his voice slightly choked. "You…you never said that."

And then she exploded.

"GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"

"Granger, I - "

"I don't want to bloody hear it! Just get the hell out of my room, before I hurt you." he was still standing where he was, staring at her.

"Nobody knows about this, do they?" he asked, holding up the letter, but averting his eyes from it.

"You bastard." She lunged forward, trying to grab the letter, but he held her back, his voice rising.

"What the hell is wrong with you Granger? You think it makes sense, to act like a bloody Hufflepuff, locking this away?!"

"Shut up! You don't know anything!" she was still struggling.

"I know that this is sick. And wrong. You've got a problem, and you're dealing with it like a coward."

Silence.

"A coward." She whispered, before she felt her body slam onto the ground.

**ooooo**

_2 years earlier_

_"I didn't know what to do." She stared at her reflection, hoping the girl gazing back at her could help. "It felt…wrong. So I had to make it right. I was right, wasn't I? He was hurt…but I couldn't keep allowing him to think I loved him back. So I did it. I ended it between us."_

_She paused._

_"You don't think it was wrong, do you?"_

_Silence._

_"Merlin, of course it was wrong!" she stood up, and began to pace. "After Fred's funeral?! What's wrong with me?! Any time, apart from then, Hermione. Your boyfriend's clinically depressed about his brother's murder: of course you tell him you don't love him THEN!" she slammed her fist into the wall, relishing the pain it sent flooding up her arm. _

_A tapping sound made her lift her head. Ron's owl._

_"Crap."_

_She quickly opened the window, grabbing the letter and unfolding it._

_Hermione,_

_I love you. I didn't know it until you told me you…you told me you didn't love me. Irony. That's a word you taught me. Remember the time we were by the lake? And you said you felt like life simply couldn't get better? And then…then you kissed me. And you finally let me into your world. Your world, with its books, and words I don't understand and I never will. What we did share was our love for chocolate frogs, that day. I remember._

_I suppose I'm not making any sense. They said that this might happen. What I'm trying to say is that it almost feels like that day has been reversed. I was ridiculously happy, and now, I'm ridiculously sad. That sounds stupid – but it's not. I'm not depressed, or heartbroken, or anything else. I'm sad. But sadder than you could ever imagine._

_When you came with me to the hospital, it was your support that kept me going. They said that Fred's death had triggered something – and suddenly, it felt like I had nothing left to live for. Why not George? Why me? I don't understand, and I never will. _

_I mean it. I never will understand. I won't have to._

_You came into my life properly then, and suddenly I did have something to live for: you. Your kisses, your laugh, and your ability to ruin any food you attempted to cook, so that our time together was like a never ending cycle of being together…and muggle takeaways. I'm trying to make you laugh. Don't cry._

_You aren't in my life, now. At least, not the way I want you to be. And so, I have nothing to live for. They said I was depressed. I don't believe it. I'm just sad. Impossibly sad. Like I said. But you kept that sadness at bay, you were my walls. My walls have collapsed now, and the sadness has come rushing back. _

_But I want you to be happy. So nobody else knows the truth – I've written to my family, and they think that Fred…Fred is the reason I'm doing this. At least now I can be with him. But back to you – show this letter to everyone, or keep it hidden. I'm giving you the choice I never had. Don't come to me, I'll…I'll be gone by the time you read this. I promise I won't hurt myself. At least, not like you hurt me._

_I want you to say strong, though. You hurt me, but I still love you, and I cannot blame you for anything. I'm taking the coward's way out._

_But you aren't a coward._

_Remember me,_

_Ron_

**Yes. Ron killed himself because of Hermione - well, not exactly. That would be stupid - as the chapter mentioned, he was clinically depressed. A sort of chain reaction of events. Trust Draco to snoop around where he's not wanted...now, I promise that you'll get even more answers (and actual explanations =P) in the next chapter. So hang in there! Can I ask for 80 reviews for an update? That would be fantastic.**

**Some exciting news - and sneaky advertising - because Virg0Luck and I have now got a joint account! Hooray! Some info on that on my profile, and hers...we're called TheRashaRevolution (the name was all her =S). We're currently working on a new fic together, which is based on a weird plot bunny I had. It's quite different, but I don't want to give too much away. If you're interested, please, go follow us...we'll be posting as soon as we can!**

**Love you all,**

**Tris xx**


	9. Chapter 9 - Truce

**Chapter 9 – Truce**

**Hi everyone. Thank you all so much - we got 12 reviews in one day! The response to the last chapter was great...thank you, again, for all your lovely reviews. You made me smile. Oh, and remember, any questions - feel free to PM me! Enjoy this chapter xx**

"Get up, Granger."

She found herself snapped out of whatever trance she'd been in, and pulled herself up from the floor, tears streaming down her face freely now.

"Pull yourself together."

She stared at him. "You don't get it, do you? I KILLED him. I killed my best-friend, because I was stupid enough to tell him I didn't love him."

"You're being irrational. Weasley's moronic behaviour - "

"SHUT UP!" she screamed, "SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"

"Be logical, Granger! I just read the entire thing, and this," he pointed at the pictures of Ron, "isn't normal."

"Are you completely heartless?" she stared at him, in disbelief. "Are you even human? How can you say something like that?" she began to shake with rage.

"I'm the only person who knows the real reason why your best friend committed suicide. Tell me that's normal, Granger. Say it!"

She said nothing, and they stood in complete silence for a few moments, until suddenly, Hermione pulled her wand out of her back pocket and lunged forward.

"OBLIVIA - "

She found herself thrown to the floor, her wand flung out of her arm and lying on her bed as Draco pinned her down.

"Are you completely insane?" he hissed.

The final straw. She lost it.

"YOU PEOPLE ARE COMPLETELY HEARTLESS, AREN'T YOU?! You're cold, heartless bastards! I didn't know what to do!"

"I know - "

"SHUT UP! You've had it easy all your life, haven't you? Rich, selfish little pureblood brat. How do you think I felt when I found out he'd killed himself because of me?! Malfoy, I found out that my parents had been killed, by your bloody father's friends," she spat, "and they didn't even know who I was when they died. A few weeks, later, and my ex-boyfriend goes and dies too. You have absolutely no idea what it's like to lose people you love, do you? No. That's right. Because you aren't capable of love."

She suddenly found herself hauled to her feet, pushed up against the wall.

"Were you forced to watch, as your father strangled your mother to death? And you screamed, and screamed, so to shut you up, he used the cruciatus curse on you? And you were unable to tell no-one, because he threatened to kill you too, if you did?"

Her eyes were wide, glued to his face in complete horror.

"I thought not." He let go of her, so she slumped to the ground. "So don't EVER say that I'm not capable of feeling anything."

"What?" she whispered.

He sat on the bed, facing away from her, head in hands, and when he spoke it seemed almost as though he was talking to himself. "He apparated my mother, and myself away with him, after the Dark Lord was killed. She thought he was trying to save her, but he'd realised what she'd done. To save me." His voice was bitter. "When she realised what he was doing, tying her to the door, she began to scream. But there was no-one there to hear her. He said he wanted to have the satisfaction of feeling her life being taken away. She was a traitor, and he valued Lord Vold – him – above his own family." His voice became quieter. "And so, he strangled her, slowly. Then threw her body into the fire. And I never told anyone."

Hermione's voice was barely audible. "When a report was filed – Narcissa Malfoy. Missing?"

"She was dead. And then, the Ministry found him, and you know the rest."

"Dementor's kiss."

"So my parents are dead too. One had basically his life force sucked out of him – so he doesn't count as alive…as anything. And the other was strangled. I still have nightmares, watching her die over, and over, and over. And I couldn't stop him. My own father."

Her eyes widened for a moment. "When I tried to heal your neck, is that - "

He shook his head. "I'm afraid the same will happen to me. A phobia, I suppose. No-one touches me above my shoulders."

He seemed to suddenly realise how much he'd revealed to her, and their sudden moment of understanding was broken.

"Granger, if you tell ANYONE about this, I swear to Salazar, I'll kill you." He spat.

She stood up, straightening her shoulders. "You can't tell Harry about…about Ron. It's my choice, to keep it secret, and I want it to remain that way."

He paused, and then lifted an eyebrow. "I won't tell about Weasley, if you don't say ANYTHING about my mother. Or my father."

"So we forget this ever happened?"

"Fine."

She hesitated. "Malfoy?"

"What?"

"I was thinking." She swallowed, hard. "I've revealed so much to you, and you told me about - "

"I thought you said we'd forget about this?"

His voice was harsh, but she detected a note of desperation beneath it. "Listen to me."

"No, Granger, I don't want to talk about - "

"LISTEN TO ME!"

He reeled backwards, surprised by her outburst. "I'm listening!" he attempted to sneer.

"You've told me about something no-one else knows, and I've done the same. I know I said we should forget about it, but I know I can't. I can't forget what you told me."

"Is this going into some sort of Gryffindor lecture?"

"Better than being a bloody Slytherin, with your dungeons, and your "I'm-holier-than-thou attitude.""

And to her disbelief, he actually let out a small chuckle. "Touché. Still talking back, then?"

"Still being a slimy jerk?"

He shook his head. "That was pathetic."

"Oh, be quiet. Like you're not pathetic."

His expression immediately became indignant. "I am NOT pathetic!"

"That's what you think."

"Granger, you've been side-tracked. What were you saying?" the slightly joking atmosphere dissolved. She frowned.

"We know things about each other that no-one else knows. And I know I can't pretend they never happened, nor can I look at you again in the same way."

"I still hate you." He spoke, quickly.

"Of course you still hate me. And I still think you're egotistical, pathetic, stupid – "

"Where is this going?"

"Right. Sorry. Got distracted."

He raised an eyebrow, and she glared at him.

"Ugh, ok Malfoy! What I'm trying to say is that we should have some sort of truce!"

His face twisted in disgust. "You mean be nice to each other? No way. I'd rather be trampled to death by a herd of hippogriffs."

"Not nice, exactly. But not vile. Tolerate each other."

"Aren't we doing that already?"

"I mean, we should try studying together. We could get a lot further. Things like that."

He scowled in disgust. "Fine, but only because I want to know what my psychotic uncles have done to me."

"Great." She tried to smile. "And to start, you can cook me a big breakfast. Screw my weight, I'm hungry after all that." And she skipped out of the room. Outside, she leant against the wall, her cheerful façade dissolved. She didn't know what has just happened, our how it had happened…but it had. So she'd have to deal with the consequences. She shook her head, to clear her thoughts and plastered another smile onto her face.

"Come on!" she called.

Draco was about to leave the room, but walked back to her bedside table first, almost reverently placing Ron's letter back in its draw. Then he walked away, turning back for one last glance before closing the door.

**So hopefully, that should answer a lot of questions. I won't say much - I'll leave that for you to do =) Please drop a review into that lovely little box below - it's appreciated more than you think. I'm going to say...could I have 92 reviews for an update? I'm sorry if it is slightly late, because life is ridiculously busy. I almost didn't manage to post today. Anyway! Thanks again, and see you next chapter =D**

**Love you all,**

**Tris xx**


	10. Chapter 10 - Animated

**Chapter 10 – Animated**

**Hello everyone! As always, thank you all so much for the reviews. ANEwrites - you may be right. The low standard of writing's probably because of how busy life is...and to be honest, I really hate this chapter. That sounds awful, but I wrote it a while ago, so I found it hard to edit. I can promise you guys that things pick up in a few chapters, however, and the story becomes much, much better. Anyway - I don't like this one, but hopefully you will. Enjoy!**

"Granger. I'm going to bed now." Draco stood up and stretched his arms out, yawning loudly.

"No! You can't go! We still haven't found out why - "

"We haven't made any progress for the past week. Nothing's happened to me – so I give up. No point in studying something if you gain nothing from it."

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"

He lifted an eyebrow. "Guess what?"

"What?" she knew something sarcastic was coming, but she still had to ask.

"I couldn't care less."

"God, Malfoy. You're infuriating."

"As are you."

"But you can't go to bed!"

"Why not? Want to come?" he smirked, and she whacked his arm.

"You're disgusting. I meant, it's only - " she checked her watch, "Oh. It's past midnight. Have we really been reading the same book for that long?"

He sighed. "Yes, Granger. Merlin, you really are stupid at times. "Brightest with of her age" my arse. I'm going to sleep." And he'd already left the room before she could reply, leaving her glaring after him indignantly.

"I hate you."

**ooooo**

She woke up the next morning with the lead weight of dread sinking in her stomach, Ron's letter clutched in her in her hand, and tear tracks dried on her face. She forced herself to wash her face and change into some decent clothes before she walked downstairs, trying to swallow down tears. At the smell of something frying, she ran to the kitchen, wondering why Draco was up so early, and couldn't help but allow a chuckle of delight when she saw who was at the counter.

"HARRY!" she shouted, running forward and throwing herself at him.

"Hi Hermione." He smiled, and gently prised her off his shoulders.

"You didn't tell me you were coming back today!" she scowled, hitting his arm.

"OUCH!"

She attempted a smirk. "You deserved that."

"I didn't tell you because I wanted it to be a surprise! But OBVIOUSLY that was the wrong thing to do." He shot a pointed look in her direction.

"Oh, be quiet. So – what's happening in the real world?"

His expression immediately became grim. "We thought we had a lead on the Zabini Movement – we were wrong, obviously. Another two muggle-borns killed. They were married."

"Oh!" she gasped.

"It's disgusting."

"He deserves to…to…God, Harry. I'm not even there, and I can't take this anymore." She felt tears filling her eyes again.

"I know."

"How does he keep escaping?!"

"We don't know." He shook his head. "And we're working on the members of V-DARK we've got at the Ministry, but they don't actually know where Rabastan and Rodolphus are, so we're at another dead end. Hermione, I'm going to be back at home more often…I'll come to visit, but they really need me at the Ministry."

She swallowed hard. "That's fine." She nodded, suddenly remembering why she'd been so upset in the first place, and burst into tears.

"Hey, Hermione. It's okay." Harry held her tightly as she sobbed into his shoulder. "I'll come as often as I can. We'll find him. I promise it'll be okay."

"It's not that." She managed to whisper, and pulled away from him. "You know what day it is today. Don't you?" she stared straight at him, her gaze unwavering. It was him who turned away, balling his fists.

"I'd hoped you wouldn't remember."

"Of course I remembered, Harry." And the tears started again.

"We all loved him. I guess it's just worse for you."

She cried harder. He had no idea.

"Hermione. Ron died two years ago. I know you loved him, but it wasn't your fault."

She dug her nails into the palm of her hand. "It was my fault." She whispered.

"No, it wasn't." Harry gathered her into his arms again. "Two years ago, on this day, he killed himself. You are NOT to blame. You loved him - "

"I still love him." _Just not the way you think I do,_ she thought.

"But you've got to let go."

And for some strange reason, at the last moment, she decided not to tell him the truth.

He sat down, and she sat beside him.

"I miss him so much." She murmured.

"Merlin," Harry ran his fingers through his hair, "not a day goes by without me thinking of him. But he wrote letters to all of us – and he told us we should be happy."

She stared at him.

He sighed. "I know. It sounds stupid. I just don't know what to do – Ginny was a wreck yesterday, Mrs Weasley actually fainted, and George smashed an entire batch of products for the shop. I can't even imagine what it's like for him – Ron AND Fred being…gone."

She wiped tears away from her face.

"I don't even want to think about what it's like at the Burrow today."

"Harry."

He looked up. "Yeah?"

"Go to the Burrow."

"But what about - "

"They need you. I'll be fine."

"Hermione, I - "

"Just go." She smiled at him, bravely. "I promise I'll be okay."

He hesitated. "I wish I could take you with me…"

"I don't doubt it." She squeezed his shoulder.

"Oh!" Harry reached down, into his bag. "I got you something."

"Oh, Harry."

"Here." He held out a…DVD? She turned it over to look at the title.

"Wuthering Heights. 1939."

"You remember, don't you?"

"Of course I do." She smiled at him.

"The first film he ever watched."

"Can you believe he actually liked it?!" they began to laugh.

"He was transfixed."

Hermione glanced down at her watch. "You should go, Harry."

He sighed. "Yeah."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

"I miss him." She hugged him, fighting back the tears threatening to spill over again.

"We all do."

"Umm…Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"The food's burning."

**ooooo**

More than ten hours later, Hermione finally got out of bed. She'd gone back upstairs as soon as Harry had gone, and had spent the entire day looking through photos of Ron, and re-reading his letter – she couldn't bear to face Draco. Only at nine o'clock did she drag herself out of her room, and downstairs, to find that Draco was nowhere to be seen. There was, however, a huge plate of brownies on the table, with a note next to them.

_Granger._

_Out of sight, out of mind. Yeah, that's true. Holed up in your room the whole day? Didn't come up for the books because I had a feeling you'd hurt me…not that I can't defend myself._

_Still. Had one of Potter's stupid urges to cook today, ended up making these things. Stupid muggle food. I'm not eating it, so you can. In my room – don't disturb me. You'll regret it._

_Malfoy._

She couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the tone in his letter. He was clearly disgusted with himself, and it really was quite amusing. Spotting the copy of the film Harry had got her where she left in on the counter, she hesitated a moment, before smiling at the memory of watching it with Ron, and grabbed the DVD and the plate of brownies, taking them into the living room before turning the lights down.

**ooooo**

Hermione quickly hurried out of the bathroom, hoping she hadn't missed too much of the film. She'd needed the loo after about 20 minutes of watching…and for some reason the damn remote wasn't working, so she'd left it on, hurrying upstairs to do her…business…and wash the tears away from her face – partly due to the tragic content of the film, and partly because of the memory of Ron watching it. But the sight which she encountered as she stopped in the doorway of the room quite literally made her jaw drop.

Sitting right in front of the television, with his face only inches away from the screen was Draco, literally transfixed – and if she didn't know better, she would have thought that she could see…brownie crumbs on his face. She paused, but decided to stay where she was, and stood in the doorway, watching the rest of the film leaning against the frame, as for some odd reason she couldn't bring herself to disturb him. And when the credits eventually rolled, she looked back over at him, to find him slumped on the floor with an almost dreamlike expression on his face. She quickly levitated his body onto the sofa, threw a blanket over him, and tiptoed upstairs.

And when she left, she could swear she saw his mouth tilt upwards in a smile.

**So, as always, Draco's too proud to admit that he's wrong. Interesting stuff coming up...and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this one. Make my week and tell me what you thought? I'll update at...OMIGOSH, WE'RE ALMOST AT 100 REVIEWS! Can we get past it? That would be AMAZING. Thanks everyone!**

**Tris xx**


	11. Chapter 11 - Severed

**Chapter 11 – Severed**

**Hi everyone =) Thank you for all your comments on the last chapter - you really made me smile, and reading them made my day. So, we're on exactly 100 reviews which I thought was a nice number to update on - but I have some news. Could you read the AN at the bottom of this chapter? Thank you... and enjoy xx**

_She was running, running, her feet pounding in time with her heart._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

_And she was breathing, but only just; the pain was almost too intense to bear. Still, she ran._

_"But you're not physically injured."_

_She turned, screaming out into the darkness._

_"Who's there?"_

_"I am."_

_She knew that voice, and it was coming closer. So she stumbled away, and started running again._

_"You're not actually hurt."_

_"I am!" she screamed, trying to sob._

_ "I am." The voice echoed. "I am hurt. I'm dead. It hurts being dead."_

_"No!"_

_"You killed me."_

_"I'm sorry!"_

_"I love you."_

_"Don't!" she begged, tears streaming down her face as she stumbled forward._

_"I love you. Come back to me."_

_"I can't!"_

_"You can't." the voice agreed. "But you need to choose."_

_And suddenly, she was in a room. And two objects were in front of her._

_"What can you see?"_

_"I see…a knife."_

_"What else?"_

_"I see…Harry. A knife, and a picture of Harry."_

_"YOU LIE!"_

_She was thrown to the floor by some sort of force and she cried out at the fresh pain she felt wash over her._

_"I'm sorry!"_

_"What else do you see?"_

_"I see Malfoy! I see Malfoy!"_

_"Which Malfoy?"_

_"Draco." She whispered._

_"And now you must choose."_

_"No." _

_"You aren't letting go. But you can balance on the edge of the cliff for only so long, before you fall, or are pulled to safety. So choose. Will you fall? Or will you move on?"_

_She reached forward and – _

Hermione sat up with a start, gasping for breath, and drenched in sweat. She winced: her throat was raw from screaming. And then, the dream came back to her.

"You must choose." She whispered.

And she stood up, moving over to the mirror, and grabbing a picture of Ron off the wall.

"I choose to let go."

She tore it in half.

**ooooo**

"Malfoy!" Hermione pounded on his bedroom door. "Get up! Malfoy!"

She waited for a few seconds, before she kicked the door hard, relishing the sound it sent resonating through the house.

"I'm coming!" she heard him shout, before he added: "Bloody witch."

"I heard that!"

He opened the door, dressed in only his boxers with his hair sticking up at the oddest angles. She looked away, embarrassed.

"For the love of Merlin woman, it's about six-thirty in the morning!"

"Yes." She nodded. "I needed you to unlock the door."

"You're a bloody witch! Use your wand!"

She cocked an eyebrow, trying to cover up the fact that she actually hadn't thought of doing that. "And what would you have done if I'd barged into your room, uninvited?"

"Killed you." He said, without hesitation.

"Precisely. And I'm quite happy with my life the way it is – our current predicament aside."

"I'm close to killing you now." He glared at her.

"I'm the one with the wand."

"Then use it!" and he tried to slam the door, but she put her foot between the frame. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." She warned, and slowly, he opened the door again.

"What. Is. It?"

"I'm letting go?"

He slapped his palm to his forehead. "Thank you, Merlin, for leaving me alone with this mentally unstable woman who has finally completely lost it. You – "

He was cut off, as she grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the room and down the hallway.

"Granger."

"Yes?"

"Granger!"

"I'm listening!"

"I'm in my underwear."

**ooooo**

"Sweet Merlin." Draco ran his hand through his hair, looking around the room, where Hermione had already started pulling pictures off the wall. A pile of shredded photographs was beginning to build up – the entire scene resembled…well, there was only one way to describe it. Chaos.

"Granger?"

"Yes?" She'd attacked the walls again.

"You remember how we were talking about the fact that you have a wand?"

"Mmhmm."

"USE IT!"

She turned to face him. "You don't seem to understand that I need to do this properly. You were right - "

He smirked, and she glared at him.

"You were right about the fact that this is all wrong."

"So you're going to rip up every single picture you have with Weasley?"

"No." she shook her head. "But I don't need to cover the walls with him. I'm not letting myself move on."

"Granger. Why should I care?"

She crossed her arms. "Because I'll hex you into the next century if you don't help me."

"But why do you need my help?"

"I'm not going to get through all this," she waved her arms about, "by myself. So get started!"

"While I'm half naked?"

"The sooner the better."

"Well you certainly aren't complaining." He muttered, resignedly starting to pull pictures off the wall. He suddenly felt a sharp jab between the shoulder blades.

"I heard that. I'll hex you if you keep talking back."

"You're like Professor-bloody-McGonagall."

**ooooo**

Hermione looked up at the sound of an owl tapping its beak against the window.

"It's Potter's." Draco said, without looking up.

"How do you know?"

"Because I have a brain. He obviously doesn't because if it's too unsafe to tell anyone about our location, it's bloody suicidal to send owls back and forth."

She opened her mouth to retort, but realised that what he'd said actually made sense. _Well done, Harry._

She quickly opened the window and grabbed the letter.

_Hermione,_

_I'm with the Weasleys…yesterday was…worse than we thought it'd be. I'll spare you the details – but everyone here sends you their love. They think you're in Australia or something, on an errand for Luna – and we all know not to mess with Luna when she's got her mind set on something_._ Hope that you're alright…and hopefully you've got Malfoy under control. I need to stay here…some documents need to be authorised, or something like that, but I promise I'll check on you as soon as possible. Sorry, Hermione: I warned you, but I still feel awful._

_Thinking of you,_

_Harry. _

She folded the letter up, and turned around to find Draco staring at a picture in his hands.

"What's up Malfoy?"

"I'm not tearing this up."

"Why not?" she walked over to him, and peered of his shoulder at the photograph. It was taken sometime soon after the war, and she was thrown over Ron's back in some sort of piggy-back style as he ran down a hill, laughing. And then she reached over to kiss him on the cheek, but he turned his head to face her, and they ended up bumping noses.

She choked back tears.

"Why not?" she repeated. "You've torn all the other pictures so far."

"But you can't just ruin them all."

"I'm keeping a few! It's just, this is too much. It's wrong. I'll still have some in my drawer."

"Granger." He turned around, and she almost gasped at the intensity of his unwavering gaze on her. Never mind the fact that he was wearing pretty much nothing, his expression was so serious – it literally took her breath away."

"Granger." He said, again. "If I had photographs of my mother, I would value them like gold. Fine, I wouldn't cover my walls with her, but I would still keep pictures of her. That's fine."

"But I am keeping pictures of him!"

"This is different. This," he stabbed the photo with his finger, "is real. The ones you keep will all be formal, and fake – you need to remember him properly. Like this."

"Since when do you care?"

He hesitated, and seconds passed with the pair simply staring at each other.

"Since now."

And then he kissed her.

**Hopefully you liked this one - and if you're thinking "what the *"&$%?!" then I've done my job =P**

**Okay. Now for the "important news". There's no good way to say this, but - I'm putting Carousel on hiatus. Guys, I am so, so sorry. I can only imagine how frustrating this is for you...and it's probably completely out of the blue from your point of view, really. And I guess this chapter's a pretty evil place to stop. But I don't think I have a choice. At the moment, I'm not really enjoying writing the story, and I can tell that the standard of the chapters has really gone down. There's no point in me writing and posting trash just for the heck of it - I'd rather give you guys some decent stuff which I've actually enjoyed writing to read. I have planned ahead, and I know where this story's going...I just need a break. I'm not sure how long it'll take - maybe only days, maybe months. But I can assure you that I WILL definitely resume writing this, so please don't be too distressed. What can I say? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I have changed the summary of the story to show that it's on hiatus...if you have any questions, or simply want to understand more about what the hell's going on, please feel free to PM me. Guys, again, I'm so sorry. I hope I haven't disappointed too many of you...if I could have it any other way, I would.**

**On a more positive note - while I am on a break from Carousel, I'm currently working on another fic: Paper Butterflies. There's a tiny bit of information on my profile, and I'll be posting in a while, so keep an eye out for it? I'm very excited about this one, and who knows? Maybe after writing it for a bit, I can come back to Carousel with a new perspective.**

**Thank you all for being so understanding. (At least I hope you will be. Understanding, I mean.)**

**Love you all,**

**Tris xx**


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